The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1887-06-23
The Blair Educational Bill.

| Has blair GQuCalOAdt Dill
1t is proper that the people should no
lose Interest in the Blair Educational Bill
1t is proposition involving interests S
vital to the South that it ought to be KEEP
fresh in the minds Of the people, and TIL
responsibility for its defeat properly 10
Gated. The Republican National ConVen
tion of 1851 declared that We favor th
establishment of national bureau of labor
the enforcement of the eight hour law;
wise and jndicous system OF general edn
cation by adequate appropriations from tn
NATIONAL revenues whenever the same
needed.
The Pennsylvania Legislature, at its re
cent session, declared for the Blair bill il
the following resolutions
Resolred, That orr Senators in Congress
be Instructed and the Representatives b
requested to support at the next session
The Blair Bill for national aid to common
schools to the end that all sections OF tn
Union may secure educational facilities.
Resolaed, That the Secretary of the Com
mOnWealth is hereby directed to send copie
! of the above resolution to the President Q
I the Senate the 5igsis'i1i.JIs tliu HOUSE
OF RepIyess ~ lives at Washington when
Congress Enyenes in December next
Nor is it inappropriate TO keep before
the public the history of the legislation on
this important subject. TO that end we
publish the following furnished the Wo-
mems Temperance Union by Hon. Henry
| w. Blair, the author of the bill, and can
be relied npon as an accurate statement of
the various efforts to enact it into law, as
we'll as fixing the responsibility for its fail
ure. 1t should be preserved by every one
into whose hands it may fall, for the ques-
tion Will be discussed not only this fall, in
Virginia, but in the campaign of 1888, and
it will therefore be matter of convenient
reference. Mr.. Blair, in response to a re-
quest of Mrs. Hunt, says:
During the year 1876 I made speech On
education, particularly setting forth why
the South opposed the common school sys-
TEN, and another speech on finance both
of these were used as campaign documents;
of the latter more than half amillion cop
les were sent out, and nearly as many of
the form r.
Judge Edmunds, Of Michigan, the friend
of Zach. chandler, and chairman or secre-
tary of the Congressional Committee, and
Commissioner John Eaton, made it their
special Msiness to keep the fundamental
principles Of the party alive by circulating
public documents the party has suffered
since ths important work has been left to
a corrupt metropolitan press.
This led IA to examine into school mat
tiers. There ~ ere then and have been since
different bills 70 appropriate the interest
of the proceeasfef public lands for the
bene1hstt at P5Ss661fe SCHOOLS.
The Education bitsSas defeated in one
Houseor the other for 7anious reasons. =
After became chairman of Tie Commit
tee on Education and Labor, iner>Sanced
it in December, 1881, the long session, bat
only got it reported, and made little pro.
gress. | urged it with speech, but it
failed that Congress. | then introduced
it again in December, 1SS3-the Forty
eighth Gpngress-and got it reported with
some notifications, but kept the essential
features After full three weeks Of sharp
debate it passed the Senate by thirty three
yeas to eleven nays.
On April 18th Invent to the House where
the Democratic managers opposed its con.
sideratipn for that session and the next
and kill ed it. From the beginning the bill
has had many Democratic friends, and
their number has greatly increased.
then introduced the bill into the Forty
ninth Congress in December, 1885, it hav-
ing been reported unanimously by the COM
mittee as it had before passed the Senate.
After three weeks debate it again passed
| the Senate by vote of thirty six yeas to
eleven nays.
1t went to the House in March, 1856,
where it remained during all that session
(Which did not adjourn till August), and
through the late short session, during all
which time, although it was frequently de-
monstrated that it had a two-th;rds ma
jority. the Democratic managers of the
House, by iilibustering and other ways,
managed again to prevent the considera
tion of thebill; so it again failed.
Admonished by the known strength Of
the bill in the Forty eighth Congress, its
opponents took good care that the Com
mittee on Education in the House should
be unfriendly to the bill, and to the sur
prise Of it's friends, who had not antici-
pated this hostility of a committee on ed
ucation. they found that so far from OBJ
tanning favorable action from the commit
tee. they could secure neither favorable
nor an unfavorable report. The committee
doggedly ptYeon-holed the bill, knowing
that even an adverse report would bring it
before the Hbuse, and it would be passed
over their lection.
In this emma, Nj. Willis. of Ken
lucky, who fohyears has been in the House
a most ;A1le hid vigorous champion for
national aid to common school education,
a ,certained fromlnine of thirteen members
of the Committee on Labor that if the bill
were referred to them they would report it
to the House for action. Thereupon he
copied the Senate bill Gerbatjnl, giving the
caption of House bill. introduced it, and
moved It's reference to the Committee on
Labor. This was, sharp reproof to the
on Education, and was so &C.
cepted by that committee and by the oppo
nents of the bill in the House.
The result was a sharp debate which re-
suited IN referring the bill to the Commit
tee on i abor by large majority. The
enemies oil the bill were not discouraged,
but by SECRET manipulation of foreign del
egates majority of that committee re-
fused to report the bill.
The OPP Ionents Of common schools as
system of Education throughout the coun-
try, secretly organized and brought every
influence lfrom remote States, as we'll as
agencies flEom the capital and vicinity, to
bear against it. For while the bill seemed
indeed deas 4, but at last the pressure on the
committed became intolerable, and seeing
no way to Ayoid reporting it, the commit
tee determ aiAed to kill it by reporting bill
which wou I'D be mere sham on any seri-
Gus desiglN to remedy the illiteracy of the
country. Near the close of the session the